01/10/2009

Skill work
[Tried ring dips at the gym for the first time: Did 1 set of 5 with the thin purple and black bands, then did 2 sets of 5 with just the black band, then did 1 set of 5 slow negatives without any bands. I think I could do ring dips with the thin purple band (lightest resistance), so I’ll try that next time. All the pull-ups probably helped a lot.

Worked on pull-ups: 2 deadhang pull-ups + 5 kipping pull-ups

Tried to do a straight arm pull to inverted hang after reading about it on the CrossFit FAQ. I failed miserably. On the bar, I can get my toes to the bar, and I can even get my knees in and over the bar so that I can hang on my knees very easily. Once I was able to get my legs straight, but I can’t seem to get my hips to straighten out. The rings were much worse. I don’t have the lat strength to do these on the rings. Maybe I’ll try again after I start doing regular grip pull-ups (instead of chin-up grip).]

Breakfast:

2 cups of tea

2 mini Chips Ahoy cookies (I was sooo hungry by 11am, and they were in the lunch room, I had no choice! They were disgusting.)

Yeah, in the 4th set I think a tear came to my eye. By like the 10th rep I was making du’a to just finish. By the 15th I was making du’a to not be paralyzed at the end of it haha. The 5th set was similar but I figured out how to block out pain around the 12th rep and just went as fast as I could through the rest with no rest (as opposed to standing with the bar on my back for like a minute between each rep).

Sorry, I don’t have a video for the straight-arm pull to inverted hang. I’m at work right now but I’ll look on YouTube when I get home. If you read the CrossFit FAQ about it and actually try to follow along with your own pull-up bar, it starts to make sense haha. Basically the end position is the top of a muscle-up but upside-down. You’re hanging by your hands with your body in a straight line, head pointed down, feet pointing up. You can do it on a bar or on rings (the FAQ specifically mentions a bar, but it’s easier on rings).